It was a visit to a landfill in 2010 that got John Fitzsimmons, owner of Fitz Flooring, thinking about how his business was contributing to an environmental problem. “They were just rolling all this stuff into the ground. Canada still has a lot of open country, but landfills are a concern in some places and I decided to see what we could do about it,” Fitzsimmons said.

Fitz services its five stores in Alberta and British Columbia from a central warehouse. “When the trucks went out to the stores, they used to come back empty, but about four months after seeing that landfill, we started collecting pad (carpet cushion) from our installs so now they come back with the used pad.” A cushion recycler collects the used pad and sells it to Carpenter, which has a plant in Canada. “There’s a savings because we are not paying the fees to dump the postconsumer (PC) cushion in the landfill. Now, we are saving 30 percent to 40 percent on landfill costs,” he reported.

Before any “green” activity can work, it must make financial sense and sometimes, what seems to be the right thing for the environment actually isn’t when all factors are considered. Fitz Flooring does not collect postconsumer carpet. “We could collect the PC carpet but we would have to ship it back to the U.S., which would burn more fuel than would be saved by recycling it. It’s not environmentally or financially sound to ship it from here,” Fitzsimmons said.

Selling quality flooring that lasts is another part of Fitz Flooring’s green approach. “The Stainmaster story works for us. It lasts longer so it has a smaller carbon footprint than products that are only down two or three years. We have customers come to us to replace Stainmaster that’s been down 20 years,” Fitzsimmons added.

Wood products are also a concern. “We don’t have the Lacey Act to protect consumers from low-quality wood products coming into Canada from overseas. Some buy it and have no idea of what chemicals may be on it or how quickly it will need to be replaced. It’s a bad deal for everybody. If we won’t put it in our own homes, we won’t sell it to our customers,” Fitzsimmons explained.

Other general business activities can also be green. “We recycle paper waste too but are switching to RFMS and will eventually be paperless. We email work orders and can make and receive payments online too,” he said.

As a member of the National Flooring Alliance (NFA), “we get to share best practices,” Fitzsimmons said. NFA, for example, recommended a change in lighting for its members. “We are switching to LED lights, which not only use less energy but last longer. It’s an expense up front but will make up for it over time. We have switched to LEDs for our outdoor signs and now don’t have to bring in a truck to lift someone up to the sign to change it as often, so that’s a savings too. You have to look at everything that goes into something to see if it’s worth changing,” Fitzsimmons stressed